My favourite things about working out

​Before I started working out daily and living a healthy lifestyle, there was only one thing I had on my mind whilst working out. This thought was basically “Just get it over and done with”, I didn’t have any real passion for working out at first. Carry on reading to find out things I began to love about working out and some of my favourites now. If you don’t workout daily or aren’t feeling motivated, perhaps my reasons can help you to develop a passion for getting fit.

Seeing improvements

​I’ve noticed several times that certain exercises can be quite challenging, depending on how strong the muscle I’m using is. When I find an exercise is challenging, I won’t stop doing the exercise or simply avoid the hard work I’d have to put in, in order to achieve the amount of reps I want to do. However, I keep on working at it and gradually increase the reps as the exercise becomes easier over a period of time. This is truly one of the many things I love about working out as not only am I building muscle, but I get to think to myself “wow, a month ago I couldn’t physically do this”. This makes me feel incredibly proud of what I have achieved, even if it may be a simple different push-up variation. At the end of the month when I’m taking photos of my hard work, I can see how much I have improved and how the exercise has benefitted me.

Buying clothes

​When I first started to work out, I owned a few pairs of sports shorts and maybe 2 tank tops which I’d alternate between when working out. Now I’m not saying you need a lot of fitness clothes or the latest gear in order to workout, unless that’s what you want to do. I must admit, I do find myself over buying fitness clothes sometimes. I find that I can’t ever have enough when it comes to buying sports clothes and that at least 60% of my closet  are outfits to wear when exercising.  I think the plus side to working out is getting to buy nice and comfortable workout gear, colourful clothes with motivational phrases always seems to catch my eye whenever I walk into any shop. I’ve certainly enjoyed buying and of course wearing different outfits when working out and deciding what I prefer brand and style wise. The only downside is if you gain so much muscle that the clothes become too small!

Music choice

I don’t always need music when I’m working out, but it definitely helps me to stay on track and continue going when exercises become difficult. If you have a good playlist of music which is motivational, upbeat and of course something you can dance to, you may have found or created an excellent ‘workout playlist’. Before working out, my taste in music was very chilled and calm but now that I’ve gather different songs from other people’s playlists, I’ve managed to create something which I’m happy to work out to. Many different people have different tastes though; someone may prefer to work out to Eminem whereas instead someone may prefer Beyoncé. I’ll link my Spotify playlist in case you want to listen to what I workout to.

Creating workouts

​Ever since I first started working out, I was never awfully keen on following someone else’s workout routine. I didn’t see the point of not working out the way you want to, it’s your body therefore you should choose how you keep it healthy. The first workout I created I can proudly say could now be my warmup, as I have improved so much. However, I can honestly say that I have had to learn from mistakes I’ve made, but then I’ve benefitted from these mistakes too. If I’m getting too bored of my workout, sometimes I change it round a bit until I’m happy with it, this is the same if I’m recovering from an injury or I have sore muscles. Some people may not want to create workouts as it seems like a lot of extra effort, but the way I see it is that you are more responsible for the way you're gaining muscle. Not saying there is anything wrong at all with following workout plans online as it’s just my own preference. 

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Online resources

​If you didn’t know by now, the internet is an amazing place to find resources, information, tips and motivation. I’ve found that online resources on the likes of Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter have been an amazing help when I’ve needed help involving my lifestyle. There are many people out there all with many different opinions and sometimes in order to find your own, you have to read through things you’ll agree and disagree on. The best thing I have found so far on Pinterest is the amount of workouts and exercises people have created. Now I’m not about to completely contradict what I just mentioned above, but I admit I do pinch other people’s exercise ideas and mix them into my own plan. It’s very easy to find information on how to workout for beginners or to create your own workout; here's a link to my pinterest if you'd like to check out some of the information that I find useful.

Those are some of my favourite things about working out and I’ve found I enjoy whilst exercising. Exercise doesn’t always have to be repetitious; you can change anything you don’t like about ​whatever you’re doing. If you aren’t enjoying yourself, will you feel as happy consistently working out? Or will you even consistently workout?